The International Transport Workers' Federation has stepped up its protest of automation at the new Rotterdam World Gateway container terminal, and called for “all parties” to discuss RWG’s labor arrangements.

Container traffic jumped 5.8 percent in 2014 at the port of Rotterdam, putting it on track to post one of the highest increases in the fiercely competitive Le Havre-Hamburg port range after years of the port trailing its rivals.

The port of Rotterdam and Europe Container Terminals, its biggest container handler, have buried the hatchet over a bitter three year dispute over the award of terminal concessions in Europe’s top box hub.

The port of Rotterdam will triple the discount on tariffs for deep-sea containers that are transshipped to other ports in Europe over the next three years in a move likely to trigger a response from its main rival Hamburg.

Europe’s top container ports are hunkering down for a potentially tumultuous 2015 dominated by a growing capacity glut and slowing cargo growth that will make the congestion of the past year appear like a minor irritant.